Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host - by the Power of God - thrust into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

About Me

Universalis, your very own breviary in pixels...

Wednesday, 30 April 2008

This story was on the BBC news, this evening:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7354458.stmYou have to wonder... how does such a thing not vie for the lead story, much less go unmentioned utterly on our national news?Quite, quite marvelous -- is it because the story, as presented by the beeb, included pictures likely to remind us of the horrible suffering and disfigurement of many of our veterans as a result of the war in Iraq?Or because it is related to stories about great advances made with stem cells.... adult stem cells? which the embryo-killing-as-a-sacrament types would rather remains under the radar, lest they lose one of their more heart-breaking arguments in favor of abortion? (You're against ESCR? You must hate Michael J Fox.)See?A cover-up right and left can both get behind!

The Man Who Grew a FingerBy Matthew Price BBC News, OhioIn every town in every part of this sprawling country you can find a faceless sprawling strip mall in which to do the shopping.Rarely though would you expect to find a medical miracle working behind the counter of the mall's hobby shop.That however is what Lee Spievak considers himself to be."I put my finger in," Mr Spievak says, pointing towards the propeller of a model airplane, "and that's when I sliced my finger off." It took the end right off, down to the bone, about half an inch."We don't know where the piece went."The photos of his severed finger tip are pretty graphic. You can understand why doctors said he'd lost it for good.Today though, you wouldn't know it. Mr Spievak, who is 69 years old, shows off his finger, and it's all there, tissue, nerves, nail, skin, even his finger print.'Pixie dust'How? Well that's the truly remarkable part. It wasn't a transplant. Mr Spievak re-grew his finger tip. He used a powder - or pixie dust as he sometimes refers to it while telling his story.Mr Speivak's brother Alan - who was working in the field of regenerative medicine - sent him the powder.For ten days Mr Spievak put a little on his finger."The second time I put it on I already could see growth. Each day it was up further. Finally it closed up and was a finger."It took about four weeks before it was sealed."Now he says he has "complete feeling, complete movement."The "pixie dust" comes from the University of Pittsburgh, though in the lab Dr Stephen Badylak prefers to call it extra cellular matrix.Pig's bladderThe process he has been pioneering over the last few years involves scraping the cells from the lining of a pig's bladder.The remaining tissue is then placed into acid, "cleaned" of all cells, and dried out.It can be turned into sheets, or a powder.

How it works in detailIt looks like a simple process, but of course the science is complex."There are all sorts of signals in the body," explains Dr Badylak."We have got signals that are good for forming scar, and others that are good for regenerating tissues."One way to think about these matrices is that we have taken out many of the stimuli for scar tissue formation and left those signals that were always there anyway for constructive remodelling."In other words when the extra cellular matrix is put on a wound, scientists believe it stimulates cells in the tissue to grow rather than scar.If they can perfect the technique, it might mean one day they could repair not just a severed finger, but severely burnt skin, or even damaged organs.Clinical trialThey hope soon to start a clinical trial in Buenos Aires on a woman who has cancer of the oesophagus.The normal procedure in such cases is often deadly. Doctors remove the cancerous portion and try to stretch the stomach lining up to meet the shortened oesophagus.In the trial they will place the extra cellular matrix inside the body from where the portion of oesophagus has been removed, and hope to stimulate the cells around it to re-grow the missing portion.So could limbs be re-grown? Dr Badylak is cautious, but believes the technology is potentially revolutionary."I think that within ten years that we will have strategies that will re-grow the bones, and promote the growth of functional tissue around those bones. And that is a major step towards eventually doing the entire limb."That kind of talk has got the US military interested.They are just about to start trials to re-grow parts of the fingers of injured soldiers.Skin burnsThey also hope the matrix might help veterans like Robert Henline re-grow burnt skin.He was almost killed in an explosion while serving in Iraq. His four colleagues travelling with him in the army Humvee were all killed.He suffered 35% burns to his head and upper body. His ears are almost totally gone, the skin on his head has been burnt to the bone, his face is a swollen raw mess.So far he has undergone surgery 25 times. He reckons he has got another 30 to go.Anything that could be done in terms of regeneration would be great he says."Life changing! I think I'm more scared of hospitals than I am of going back to Iraq again."Like any developing technology there are many unknowns. There are worries about encouraging cancerous growths by using the matrix.Doctors though believe that within the so called pixie dust lies an amazing medical discovery.

Fr Hunwicke seems to be implying that some bishops prayer is less Ut unum sint than Ut unum sint.... of MINE.http://liturgicalnotes.blogspot.com/2008/04/fif-sspx.htmlWhy are so many more interested in local, dare I say?, parochial unity, ("Well, that's the way we do it HERE,") than in universal accord?Of course, the parochial, (in the pejorative sense of the word,) is built into the structure, the very existence of the C of E and denominational protestantism.And frankly, it seems inherent in the attitude of many in-reality-RE-though-they-like-to-call-themselves-PRO-gressives in the Catholic Church, as well, who never met a custom, a peculiarity, a liturgical style they didn't like -- unless it hints of tradition or Rome. (Have a Mass in Klingon if you like, anything but Latin...)Much obedience is demanded by disobedient middle management hacks, I notice.

How extraordinary (a fashionable word)! While the C of E debates what sort of structures it will give to those who cannot accept women bishops ... will the bishops of the traditionalist minority be Ordinaries with jurisdiction? ... a divertingly similar debate is enlivening the Traditionalist RC blogosphere (go to WDTPRS and find the Papa Stronsay article). Apparently a thriving Traditionalist Redemptorist community on an Orkney island are investigating what Rome might allow them. Fascinating. Will Roman Rigidity be more flexible and generous than Anglican Liberalism? Quite possibly. The Anglican establishment is amazingly broad, tolerant, inclusive .... except in one tiny area. That is: if anybody suggests that diocesan bishops might lose the merest smidgeon of their territorial jurisdiction. On that question, our bishops hold views that make the definitions of Vatican I on Papal Primacy and Infallibility look as flabby as a week-old meringue. Rumour has it that before Consecration those nominated for Anglican bishoprics are subjected to a medical examination the main part of which is a test of their anal retentiveness.Seriously, what happens to those RC traditionalists tentatively knocking at Rome's door might ... I don't quite know how to finish this sentence.

I never had a Barbie. My friends all did, and as I recall, the invitations were always, to "come over and play Barbies," not "play dolls."I may be remembering wrong, but I don't think I liked them, their feet were funny, and the arms weren't articulated well; so my tendency was the same as my brothers would have been, bend them at the hip and pretendtheir legs were the barrel of a gun.Zara and Dara would be a cool collectible to have...

Iran’s prosecutor general railed on Sunday against the invasion of Barbie, Batman, Spider-Man and Harry Potter and demanded that the country’s young be protected against them, Agence France-Presse reported. Urging measures to safeguard “Islamic culture and revolutionary values,” the prosecutor, Ghorban-Ali Dorri Najafabadi, was quoted by the ISNA news agency as saying: “Promoting figures like Barbie, Batman, Spider-Man and Harry Potter and the uncontrolled import of CDs of video games and films should alarm all the country’s officials. We need to find substitutes to ward off this onslaught, which aims at children and young people whose personality is in the process of being formed.” Although officials in Iran regularly denounce Western culture, Western toys have been popular there, and affluent parents often indulge their children with them. The prosecutor said, “These toys, which do not respect the required norms, present dangers for the health of children and affect the survival of toy factories in this country.” In July 2007 “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” went on sale in Tehran. Two years ago the police raided toy shops and put black stickers on the packaging of Barbie dolls to hide their bodies. Barbie contravenes Iran’s rule that women must cover all bodily contours. Iran’s rivals to Barbie and her partner, Ken, are Sara and Dara, who respect Islamic rules but do not enjoy Barbie’s popularity.

Tuesday, 29 April 2008

In Fred Moleck's latest column at GIA, we learn this little bit of his cv, regarding Ascension Thursday's past:http://giamusic.com/sacred_music/tabletalk/current.cfmI must confess that somewhere in my post-Vatican zeal of the 1970s I led the parish’s school children in singing Blood, Sweat, and Tears’ “What goes up, must come down, spinnin’ wheel . . .” in the school’s parking lot as they released their helium-filled balloons after the school’s mass.[Why, of course he did](Those were the days when we were trying to be relevant in spite of ecological concerns, to say nothing of liturgical propriety. We were also really big on Godspell.)

Okay, so the new GIA catalog awaiting me in my rectory mailbox has a not-bad drawing of a bird on the cover, and "Lord, make me an instrument..."Pretty good, huh?That augurs well enough for the contents: prayerful, and a musical reference through the play on words, right?But inside, I kid you not, ducks and bunnies and a raccoon and who knows what all saccharine cartoon woodland creatures, (of a style to make Precious Moments look edgy, and Disney cartoons like Fritz the Cat,) frolicking in a circle singing, apparently, "where there is division, may i make friends...."And then this prayer, (a couple of foxes or wolves, i can't remember,) "where there is boredom let me ring bells."Whisky Tango Hotel

And happy birthday, Gautama Buddha!(I forgot to get him a Vesakhe present)From Wiki:Sometimes informally called "Buddha's birthday," it actually encompasses the birth, enlightenment Nirvana, and passing (Parinirvana) of Gautama Buddha.[Christianity had the right idea co-opting pagan holidays to spread the joy out over the course of a year, IMO...]Vesak (Sinhalese) is an annual holiday observed by practicing Buddhists.In Indian Mahayana Buddhist traditions, the holiday is known by its Sanskrit equivalent, Vaisakha.The word Vesak itself is the Sinhalese language word for the Pali variation, "Visakha". Vaishākha is the name of the second month of the lunar Hindu calendar.Vesak is also known as Visakah Puja, Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, Visakha Bucha in Thailand, Phat Đan in Vietnam, Waisak in Indonesia, Vesak (Wesak) in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, [fó dàn] in Chinese-speaking countries, and Saga Dawa in Tibet.The equivalent festival in Laos is called Vixakha Bouxa and in Myanmar is called Ka-sone-la-pyae meaning Fullmoon Day of Kasone which is also the second month of the Myanmar Calendar.Vesak is a public holiday in many Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and also Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Monday, 28 April 2008

Without comment:http://www.zenit.org/article-22427?l=englishROME, APRIL 27, 2008 (Zenit.org).- With in-vitro fertilization (IVF) becoming more and more popular, an increasing number of children are at risk of being separated from their fathers.Ireland’s High Court recently ruled against giving any parental rights to a father whose sperm was donated and used in an artificial insemination, which resulted in the birth of his son.The father, a homosexual, donated sperm to the mother and her female partner, who are a lesbian couple. On April 17 the Irish Times reported that Judge John Hedigan held that the lesbian couple could be regarded as a de facto couple with rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.Consequently the judge denied guardianship or visiting rights to the biological father, who had initiated legal action to obtain these privileges. ...a nongovernmental organization active in family issues, said that a child has a right to know his parents, and to be raised by a father and a mother.“The fact that the man in this case, known as ‘A’, is a sperm donor, in no way lessens the fact that he is the child’s father and that the child has a right to know his father and to have some measure of contact with his father,” commented David Quinn, the institute’s director. “This right inheres in the child and it is extraordinary that this should be overlooked at the very time we are considering a children’s rights referendum."One of the problems with not knowing your father was highlighted in an article published April 19 by the Irish Independent. The story recounted how Kirk Maxey fathered an unknown number of children through sperm donation over a number of years, which he roughly calculates at between 200 to 400. Now with a child of his own, Maxey is faced with the dilemma of knowing that there could be up to 100 young girls in the vicinity of his home who are close to his son’s age and have the same father, but who have no idea who he is....Ireland is far from being alone in creating such problems. ...According to the Telegraph, a number of children in the United Kingdom have been born years after their father’s death, in the Australian state of Victoria, proposals are under discussion to loosen laws on IVF, including those on sperm donation. A Feb. 16 article published in the Australian newspaper detailed the objections to sperm donation by Myfanwy Walker, herself born as a result of IVF and donated sperm.Only when she was 20 did she discover the truth about her parentage. She subsequently was able to make contact with her biological father, but says that even if kids can eventually do this it is far from being an acceptable situation. Even though a number of countries have now abolished donor anonymity, allowing the children to contact their biological parents once they turn 18, Walker observed that often the contact data is not kept up-to-date by the clinics. As well, donors can also actively evade being found. ..The U.N. Convention on the Rights of a Child ... declares that children have a right to their identity. Such a right is not respected ...when one parent is a donor, and who can remain anonymous for the first years of a child's life....A growing number of children [born through anonymous donor IVF] now adults are speaking out forcefully against the way in which they were brought into being...they feel like genetic orphans and [society] runs the risk of disintegrating parenthood into its genetic, gestational, social and legal components, ...This seriously harmful both to children and society, she warned.Another Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail, reported Nov. 13 about how Liza White discovered that her daughter Morgan, fathered by a sperm donor, has 6 half-siblings by the same father.The six families and seven kids are spread out through the United States, from Washington state to Washington, D.C. No less than six of them were born within a half-year of each other, and at the time the article was published, they were all in kindergarten.The mothers, all lesbians according to the Globe and Mail, still do not know who the father of their children is or how to contact him.IVF techniques are also being employed to create ever-stranger types of family relationships. At least six British mothers have frozen their eggs to be used by their infertile daughters, the Sunday Times reported Feb. 10.The daughters, who will thus be in a position to give birth to a half-sister or brother, are able to do this given that new freezing technology means that their mother’s eggs can be frozen for long enough to be used once the daughter has reached adulthood.“The child could feel a crisis of identity trying to work out their relationship with relatives,” Josephine Quintavalle of Comment on Reproductive Ethics said to the Times in a critical reaction to the news.Another British case was reported by the BBC last Oct. 5. An anonymous 72-year-old man agreed to become a sperm donor for his own "grandchild." The man has offered to donate his sperm to his son and daughter-in-law who have yet been unable to conceive a child through IVF. The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks out against the dangers of IVF, referring among points of the child’s right to be born of a father and a mother and to know them. (No. 2376)“A child is not something owed to one, but is a gift, the ‘supreme gift of marriage’” the Catechism adds (No. 2378). Therefore, the text continues: “A child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea to which an alleged ‘right to a child’ would lead.” Principles only too often ignored, to the detriment of children and society as a whole.

It seems the French manufacture "news" where this is none the same way our 24/7 Gotta-Report-SOMETHING media do.Nonetheless, prayers for the Holy Father.I remember thinking, as I listened to his address at the end of the Triduum one year, I'm exhausted and can barely croak my voice is so worn, and I'm half his age!http://www.zenit.org/article-22434?l=english

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 27, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Rumors suggesting that Benedict XVI's health is failing are "baseless," confirmed the Vatican.Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said this ... after the French newspaper Le Figaro published an article Saturday that raised questions regarding the Pontiff's health. The report also speculated on future successors to the papacy.The spokesman said the article's assertions, published less than one week after the Pontiff ended his five-day apostolic trip to the United States, were "paradoxical.”“Benedict XVI is well and it is paradoxical that doubts about his health are being manufactured precisely after his return from his demanding trip ...On his April 15-20 trip to the United States the Pope followed an intense schedule that included delivering 19 speeches and homilies in five days.Le Figaro's assertions were based on reports that Benedict XVI appeared tired as he celebrated Mass April 19 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, and that after the ceremony he was helped by aides so as "to not trip under the great weight of the liturgical vestments.”Father Lombardi responded, “Any priest who celebrates with very heavy and long vestments is helped so that he does not trip on the stairs of the altar.” The French newspaper also observed that the Pope didn't hold a general audience on the Wednesday after his return to Rome following trip so he could rest. The Vatican spokesman said the audience had been canceled two months before the trip to the United States, and that "the necessity of rest after a trip across the ocean is completely obvious, as anyone who has had to change time zones knows well."

Saturday, 26 April 2008

Fr Hunwicke has a pithy little post on a phrase from the text of O Salutaris. (And a loopy analogy, a real gem, Grace as a "shucker.")And it seems very apt right now, between planning Corpus Christi festivities and thinking about the recent papal visit with the theme, Christ, our Hope -- what a hope that is: a life with no boundaries, life of such abundance that death is immaterial, irrelevant, a minor incident to be brushed aside with debonairite.O grant us life that shall not endI am glad we use Latin texts for Benediction here at S Thomas's. To sing Aquinas' original text of the O Salutaris reminds one that what he actually wrote was vitam sine termino. Literally this means 'life without a boundary mark'. Perhaps this means more than just 'bodily death won't be the end of everything'. Our life even in this present age itself has no boundary stones if we are in Christ so that our life is hidden with him in the Father. Everything is ours; there are no oysters we cannot open and enjoy provided we possess God's grace to use as a shucker.

A lovely post from one of the cloistered Dominicans at the Rosary Shrine, a group of whom were able to attend the Mass at Yankee Stadium, "to be with our Holy Father who St. Catherine of Siena called our 'sweet Christ on earth. '"The photos give a real impression of what it must have been like to be in that tremendous crowd."One of the highlights of being at this Papal Mass was experiencing the unity of the mystical body of Christ. It was a moment when we could unabashedly express our joy and pride at being Catholic."

If you haven't read it (I am very late catching up on my 'blog reading, so no doubt you have,) go do so.

In my commentary here and in my coverage of the papal visit with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN, I had occasion to make somewhat critical remarks about the way the Mass was celebrated at Nationals Park in Washington. My observation that New York, by way of contrast, did itself proud was quite untouched by my notorious New York chauvinism.In response to my comments, we received hundreds, if not well over a thousand, emails, letters, and references on the blogosphere. I estimate that they ran about five-to-one in favor of what I had said. Responses by church musicians were overwhelmingly favorable. But those in the minority expressed deep outrage. Some took my remarks as criticism of Pope Benedict. My point was that the Washington style of celebration flew in the face of much that Benedict has written about liturgy and music. Others complained that my comments insulted the musicians and choirs who were very sincere in doing their thing, no matter what others thought of it. No doubt. But most of those in the minority charged me with elitism and snobbery in trying to impose my musical and liturgical tastes on others.Where to begin? The matter of taste—or, if you will, aesthetics—enters into it, no doubt. But the problem with the way the liturgy and music was handled is that it focused attention on the gathered people and the performers rather than on what Christ is doing in the Eucharist. It was a display of preening multiculturalism that proclaimed, “Look at us wonderfully diverse people exhibiting our wonderfully diverse talents!” I should add that this was the impression more powerfully conveyed on television, which was what I saw from the broadcast studio. Some people who were in the stadium and participating in the Mass tell me they hardly noticed the sundry musical performances, except as a vague background noise. They were the fortunate ones.No doubt there are many parishes where people regularly suffer worse than what was perpetrated at Nationals Park. For the most part it was bad music competently performed. But one expects better, one expects much better, at a papal Mass. Especially when the pope is one who has been so very explicit in his views on liturgical and musical practices.In the March issue of First Things, Father George Rutler has a devastatingly arch review of Piero Marini’s A Challenging Reform: Realizing the Vision of the Liturgical Renewal. Marini was the Master of Pontificial Liturgical Celebrations until he was relieved of his duties by Pope Benedict.What Marini calls the “vision of the liturgical renewal” has over the years been strongly criticized by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict as the invention of the proponents of “the spirit of Vatican II”—a spirit in sharp contrast to what the council actually said. In Sacrosanctum Concilium, the council said:That sound tradition may be retained, and yet the way remain open to legitimate progress. Careful investigation is always to be made into each part of the liturgy which is to be revised. This investigation should be theological, historical, and pastoral. . . . Finally, there must be no innovation unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from the forms already existing.The difference between the organic and the manufactured has been a theme constantly emphasized by Benedict. The story of how, after the council, Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, ably assisted by Piero Marini (now archbishop), manufactured multiple innovations in accord with their vision of renewal is well known. And, of course, over the past forty-plus years, bishops and priests beyond numbering, taking their cue from the likes of Bugnini and Marini, brought their own “creative resources” to bear on the manufacturing process.The difference between the organic and the manufactured has everything to do with Benedict’s repeated emphasis on “the hermeneutics of continuity” in the correct interpretation of the council, as distinct from viewing the council as a rupture in the Church’s tradition. The hermeneutics of rupture results in talk about a pre–Vatican II Church and a post–Vatican II Church, as though there are two churches, one before the council and one after.Nobody seems to know why Pope Paul VI allowed Bugnini to take such liberties with the Church’s worship, or why, in 1976, he “exiled” him to a diplomatic post in Iran, where he died. Without directly criticizing Paul VI, Ratzinger has written that a “pope is not an absolute monarch whose will is law, but is the guardian of the authentic Tradition.” With respect to the liturgy, he has said, “he has the task of a gardener, not that of a technician who builds new machines and throws the old ones on the junk-pile.” In the same context, Ratzinger invokes the “golden words” of the Catechism: “For this reason no sacramental rite may be modified or manipulated at the will of the minister or the community. Even the supreme authority in the Church may not change the liturgy arbitrarily, but only in the obedience of faith and with religious respect for the mystery of the liturgy.” [emphasis Scelata's.... and the person to whom it is directed knows why]In his book The Feast of Faith, Ratzinger addresses the question of sacred music in a passage well worth pondering:The movement of spiritualization in creation is understood properly as bringing creation into the mode of being of the Holy Spirit and its consequent transformation, exemplified in the crucified and resurrected Christ. In this sense, the taking up of music into the liturgy must be its taking up into the Spirit, a transformation that entails both death and resurrection. That is why the Church has had to be critical of ethnic music; it could not be allowed untransformed into the sanctuary. The cultic music of pagan religions has a different status in human existence from the music which glorifies God in creation. Through rhythm and melody themselves, pagan music often endeavors to elicit an ecstasy of the senses, but without elevating the sense into the spirit; on the contrary, it attempts to swallow up the spirit in the senses as a means of release. This imbalance toward the senses recurs also in modern popular music: the “God” found here, the salvation of man identified here, is quite different from the God of the Christian faith.For Benedict, aesthetics is never mere aesthetics. He readily acknowledges his debt to Hans Urs von Balthasar, who has helped many of us to appreciate more fully the ways in which beauty is inseparable from the transcendent realities of the true and the good. I do not wish to be too hard on those who planned the celebration at Nationals Park. It was, sad to say, not unrepresentative of much Catholic worship in our time. The planners and the performers no doubt meant well, but it is worthy of remark that at a papal Mass there was so much that reflected an ignorance of, or defiance of, the very considered views of the pope.

I was reminded today, when people at rehearsal (I'm so tired, I'm so tired, I'm so tired....) spoke about surgery:As I was driving to church for choir last night, (or rather, to the rectory and the Blessed Copy Machine, my best friend and patron saint, although unlike my predecessor, I don't think I am ever spoken of as having "toner in my veins,") I heard maybe 20 seconds on Relevant Radio, Drew Mariani, I think the host of the show is?And from a snippet of conversation, obviously the tail end of the discussion, I received the impression that someone had espoused, or at least failed to debunk, the notion that live donor organ donation is somehow not in keeping with Catholic teaching, if "beauty" is affected.Tell me I heard wrong, and no one thinks anything so absurd, and dare I say, evil?Anyone (of my 2.7 readers,) ever heard such a thing?

Thursday, 24 April 2008

Yesterday evening I spent a few weeks at a Liturgy Committee meeting. (Yes, the "Dread LitCom," as someone once called it.)Yet again this year, we will not be having a Corpus Christi Procession. I think for the witness it would give to the community, every effort would be made, but when I brought it up, no go. (But I'll keep asking, because some day they might surprise me.)But for those fortunate enough to be part of T planning PTB at a progressive parish, the following info is provided:

Eucharistic Procession on the Feast of Corpus Christihttp://www.catholicculture.org/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=1198[Now BISHOP] Elliott has compiled from the various liturgical sources the proper ceremony for the procession on Corpus Christi.695. The public procession of the Eucharist should be promoted everywhere, especially in the light of the example of Pope John Paul II, who took the annual Corpus Christi procession from St. Peter's Square to the streets of Rome . However, such a procession must be carefully planned. If it passes "through the streets", i.e., outside church property, it may be authorized only by the diocesan bishop, who should establish appropriate regulations to ensure respect for the Eucharist, a dignified celebration and full participation on the part of the people . What is described below for the solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord (Corpus Christi) may be used on other major occasions when this act of homage to Our Lord may also be celebrated, for example, "after a lengthy period of adoration", such as the annual solemn exposition or Forty Hours devotion.696. Everything is prepared as usual: (a) for a solemn Mass with white vestments and (b) for exposition of the Eucharist. Six or four candles burn on the altar. An extra priest's host is placed on the paten or prepared in a lunette, to be consecrated for the procession. The monstrance is ready on a credence table. Extra candles and flowers may be set up in the sanctuary to enhance the festive occasion. A white cope may be placed near the chair.Preparations for the Procession697. In the sacristy, a second thurible is prepared during Communion. The two thurifers should be assisted by a boat bearer during the procession. A noble canopy (baldachin) attached to four or six staffs may be prepared outside the sanctuary, preferably near the seats of the people trained to carry it. Torch bearers should assist as for solemn Mass. Glasses to protect the torches or lanterns mounted on staffs may be used according to custom. Only eucharistic banners should be carried in the procession, never images of Our Lady or the saints. Banners of sodalities and Catholic movements may be carried by their representatives. A eucharistic banner may replace the processional cross. Hand candles are usually carried by those walking in the procession. If it is customary for children, such as first communicants, to strew flowers before the Eucharist, they should be trained to act in an orderly and reverent way, without impeding the procession. Members of the armed forces, the police, scouts or other bodies may escort the procession through the streets. Music may he provided by a choir and/or band, according to custom.698. The route of the procession must be carefully defined. Well-placed loudspeakers and printed programs promote the full participation of the people-and help those watching the procession to be drawn into the celebration. In some countries, it is customary to decorate the houses and other buildings along the route . If the procession is long, the celebrant may stop at "altars" set up at convenient places where Benediction is given. The procession terminates with solemn Benediction, given either in or outside the church where it began, at another church or at some suitable place where the people can gather conveniently.The Mass699. The principal Mass of the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ is celebrated, according to local custom. In the homily, the theological and spiritual significance of the procession should be explained. Directions to assist the faithful to take part should be provided at the time of the homily or set out in the program with the hymns and acclamations to he sung (luring the procession which should focus on the Lord .700. At the fraction, the Host for the procession is either set apart on a paten or placed in the lunette (unless already consecrated in it). During Communion a server brings the empty monstrance to the altar, genuflects and places it to the left of the corporal. The missal and stand are removed.In the sacristy, the two thurifers prepare the thuribles with an ample supply of charcoal and bring them to the sanctuary, leading the torch bearers, unless they have remained in the sanctuary since the Eucharistic Prayer. The ablutions are best carried out at the credence table. Clergy who are not concelebrants may put on white copes for the procession, but not eucharistic vestments which are reserved for concelebrants. Hand candles are distributed and lit.701. The deacon or, lacking him, the celebrant, goes to the altar, places the Host in the monstrance, sets the monstrance on the corporal and genuflects. The deacon then goes to the chair, where the celebrant sings or says the Prayer after Communion. The blessing and dismissal are omitted. At the chair, the celebrant may remove the chasuble and put on a white cope. If the monstrance is heavy or the procession will he long, a sling may be put around his neck, over the stole, to take the weight of the monstrance. Directed by the M.C., the cross bearer and candle bearers take up a position in the aisle of the church, where they will lead the procession from the church.") Concelebrants and other clergy follow them and line up in the aisle, so that they will precede the canopy. The celebrant, deacon(s), M.C., torch hearers and thurifers line up in front of the altar, genuflect and then kneel.The Procession702. All kneel while a hymn of adoration is sung. Incense is prepared as at exposition, but in two thuribees. The Host is incensed as usual. Then the deacon or, if he is not present, a concelebrant or assistant priest goes to the altar with the celebrant. Both genuflect, and the deacon (concelebrant or assistant priest) places the monstrance in the celebrant's veiled hands. If he has no assisting clergy, the celebrant himself goes to the altar to take the monstrance in his veiled hands. If a sling is used, the deacon or the M.C. ensures that the monstrance rests securely in it, under the humeral veil.703. All taking part in the procession stand. The celebrant turns or comes around to the front of the altar. His cope is held back by the deacon(s) as he slowly walks forward to an agreed point, where those bearing the canopy meet him and raise it over him and the deacon(s). The two thurifers and the boat bearer take their places in front of the canopy. As the first hymn begins, the procession proceeds in this order:the cross bearer carrying the cross or banner, flanked by the candle bearers;religious associations, sodalities, etc., perhaps carrying their own banners;religious in their habits;the clergy, in choir dress (and copes);the concelebrants of the Mass;the two thurifers in front of the canopy, customarily swinging the thuribles with their inside hands . (Note: They should not walk backwards. But the boat bearer walks to one side of them, not at the center. When required, he goes to the thurifiers and places incense in the thuribles in the course of the procession.)704. Directly under the canopy walks the celebrant, carrying the Eucharist devoutly at eye-level, with the deacon(s) beside and slightly behind him, holding back his cope, if necessary. No one else walks beneath the canopy. The torch bearers with torches or lanterns walk along each side of the canopy. According to local custom, an escort from the armed forces, the police, scouts or a Catholic youth movement, etc., may also flank the canopy, but arranged farther out from the torch bearers and carefully spaced so as not to obscure the celebrant as he carries the Eucharist.705. Directed by the ushers in the church, the people who are to walk in the procession follow the canopy, taking part in hymns and acclamations. The singing is led by the choir and cantor(s) — either walking in the midst of the people or singing from a fixed point, with appropriate amplification. The procession should move at a slow and reverent pace. Identifiable marshalls should control the ranks of a large procession, so that it does not become disordered. All those in the procession not already carrying something may carry a hand candle. Children trained to strew flowers are arranged according to local custom, but they are not mingled with the clergy or servers.706. If the bishop carries the monstrance, he is flanked by two assistant deacons in dalmatics (or, lacking deacons, concelebrants), who walk beside and slightly behind him holding back his cope. There are some other variations in the order of procession. The clergy in choir dress are followed by the deacon(s) of the Mass, then the canons of the cathedral chapter and other priests, wearing copes, followed by visiting bishops wearing copes, but bareheaded, walking immediately in front of the thurifers. Those of higher rank walk nearer the Blessed Sacrament . Other visiting bishops wear choir dress but are bareheaded during the procession and immediately follow the canopy. Those of higher rank also walk nearer the Blessed Sacrament, in this case preceding others in the order of procession .707. If the bishop does not carry the monstrance, he walks alone immediately before the canopy, bareheaded and carrying his crozier, but not blessing the people. If he celebrated the Mass, he wears vestments, otherwise a white cope. A bishop in choir dress comes immediately after the canopy.708. As the procession goes through the streets or appointed area, the faithful not walking in it should kneel as the Blessed Eucharist passes by. As noted above, the procession may pause at suitably decorated "altars" for Benediction.709. On returning to the church, or arriving at another church chosen and prepared for the final Benediction, the ceremonial escort, torch bearers and thurifers precede the canopy if the aisle is narrow. The canopy bearers stop in front of the sanctuary as the celebrant goes up to the altar. They move off to one side and put the canopy in a suitable place. The deacon takes the monstrance from the celebrant, places it on the corporal, and both genuflect. The M.C. or a server removes the humeral veil. Servers and torch bearers line up in the sanctuary for Benediction.710. The celebrant and deacon(s) should wait until all the people have taken their places in the church and are kneeling. At a signal from the M.C., the hymn of adoration is sung, the Eucharist is incensed and Benediction is given as usual. Unless adoration is to continue, the Eucharist is reposed and a final hymn, acclamation or Marian antiphon may be sung. Clergy and servers proceed to the sacristy.711. If the final Benediction is given in the open air, from the church steps, a balcony or other place, these arrangements are adapted accordingly. The Benediction hymn begins only once all the people have gathered, kneeling or standing in an orderly way in the designated area. After Benediction, the Eucharist is taken privately to the nearest tabernacle for reposition.Prayer Source: Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite by Msgr. Peter J. Elliott, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1995

There is a kinship between music and hope, between song and eternal life, said Benedict XVI at the end of a concert offered in his honor today.The concert was a gift from the president of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, to mark the third anniversary of Benedict XVI's pontificate. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected April 19, 2005, and began his petrine ministry April 24. The Holy Father attended the concert, held in Paul VI Hall, accompanied by the president. The Pope's older brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, was also there.Milan's Giuseppe Verdi orchestra and symphonic choir, directed by Oleg Caetani and Erina Gambarini, respectively, interpreted musical compositions from Luciano Berio, Luigi Boccherini, Brahms and Beethoven.In an address after the concert, the Pope referred to the "spiritual value of musical art, called in a particular way to instill hope in the human spirit wounded by the earthly experience."According to the Pontiff, there is "a kinship between music and hope, between song and eternal life," and for this reason, "the Christian tradition represents the souls of the blessed in a choir."Benedict XVI said he thinks that new generations can find new inspiration by approaching the "universal value of the artistic patrimony," thus making it easier to build a society "open to the values of the spirit."

Wednesday, 23 April 2008

In an email newsletter from Karl Keating to which I apparently subscribe (I can't remember why...) is news of a tabulation someone has done on the priest-in-training situation in the US.I remember being quite struck by the numbers and fervour of the young men I met at Mundelein. It seems my vague impression that the Archdiocese was, comparably speaking, thriving in that respect, was accurate.

In America, [from 1978, the year that John Paul II was elected pope, to2005, the year that Benedict XVI was elected pope,] the number of seminarians dropped from 9,021 to 4,603, a decline of 49 percent. That is the countrywide statistic. Statistics for individual dioceses vary. Some actually have seen steady increases in the number of seminarians, but they have been the exceptions, of course. In December, Catholic World Report magazine printed a tabulation of the ratio of Catholics to seminarians in all 176 Latin Rite dioceses in the U.S. Religious-order seminarians were not counted. The raw numbers were taken from The Official Catholic [Kenedy] Directory. The magazine took the number of Catholics, divided that by the number of diocesan seminarians, and ended up with a ratio. Then it ranked the dioceses and listed the rankings for 2006 (the latest year available) with those for the three prior years.You might not be surprised to learn that Lincoln, Nebraska, was in first place for the third year running, with a ratio of 2,473 Catholics per seminarian. ...Most of the top-ranking dioceses are small or smallish, and their rankings may not tell us much, either about them or about the state of the Church in America as a whole. More interesting, perhaps, is the fact that few large dioceses score high. Of the top 40 rankings, only two are held by dioceses with Catholic populations above 150,000: Denver (400,000 Catholics) and St. Paul-Minneapolis (650,000 Catholics). Most populous dioceses are found toward the bottom of the list: Boston at 162 out of 176; Brooklyn at 155; Detroit at 160; Galveston-Houston at 164; Los Angeles at 171; New York at 170; Orange at 156; Philadelphia at 144; Rockville Centre at 163; San Bernardino at 159. All of these dioceses have a Catholic population exceeding one million. The only million-plus dioceses doing fairly well are Newark at 78 and Chicago at 42.My own diocese of San Diego doesn't quite make the million-Catholic cut-off; it had 950,743 Catholics in 2006. But it did achieve a certain distinction. In the rankings it came in dead last at 176 out of 176.

Q: I'm a Catholic musician and I should know chant. I know that. I'm embarrassed to say that I can't even read the notation!A:That's one of the reasons we hold the colloquium. Most participants don't have prior experience in chant notation. We have classes that start at the very beginning. You will not feel intimidated at all. Quite the reverse: people here love to teach and inspire.Q: Goodness, I don't know how any of this music even goes. I've heard bits and pieces but I will know far less than everyone else.A: This is a journey for all of us. There is way too much music for people to get to know in their lifetimes. In some way, all of our knowledge is spotty, and we all have to start somewhere. The experts at the Colloquium love nothing more than to teach.Q: I'm looking at the musical lineup and I can't fathom how I can sing this after just a few rehearsals. Forget it!A:You won't be asked to sing it all. There are 5 polyphony choirs and 5 chant choirs. We'll divide up the work. Some people will more quickly master this material than others. But there is strength in numbers here. You will be surprised how quickly you will catch on. In any case, one reason for the Colloquium is to stretch what all of us can do.Q: I know no Latin. I mean none, not even how to pronounce it. Surely this Colloquium isn't for me.A:Not so! To come and sing requires no prior experience in Latin. The classes work on pronunciation, and you will be surprised at how intuitive it is.Q: At my parish, we sing what is often called praise music, and I really like it! I don't want to be around anyone who will put down contemporary song.A:That's not the idea of the colloquium at all. We have a focus and that is the music specifically named in the documents of the Second Vatican Council. The goal is broaden our musical horizons to include music that is actually attached to the Catholic liturgy, and show that it is doable, beautiful, and central.Q: I love chant. I love polyphony. I love sacred music. But I'm the only one I know. I'm all alone.A:Actually you are not alone. There are multitudes that share your view, maybe not in your parish but you can learn enough to actually start something wonderful right where you are. It only takes a few singers to make the difference in a parish. You are being called!Q: But I don't know anyone else who is going.A:That's okay. Most people arrive not knowing anyone else. Everyone makes an effort to befriend people who come alone. You will not be eating or singing or walking by yourself. Sacred music people are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet.Q: The music sounds pretty but I'm repelled by serious, frown-faced sophisticates who don't know how to have fun. Isn't Gregorian chant all about being solemn all the time?A:The liturgy is solemn but the conference itself is fabulous fun, as anyone who has ever attended can tell you. The rehearsals are a blast while being very educational. There are prayerful times and times of hilarity. Through it all, you will make friends for life.Q: Listen, I would love to come but this conference is outside my budget.A:Because the CMAA is an all-volunteer organization, we don't have high salaries to pay and a big infrastructure to keep up. This allows us to drive down the price to the lowest possible level. Consider that the price includes tuition, materials, housing, and the best instruction in the world. It's a bargain.Send us any more of your questions. Programs@musicasacra.com

Yes, Gregorian chant is feasible with a congregation in the tens of thousands.

Personally, I think the musical/liturgical excellence was possible at the NY stadium Mass in a way it was perhaps not at the DC stadium Mass for the simple reason that the former was already a sacred place.... ;oP

With all the buzz about freedom, and what the word means to a follower of Christ, and in what true freedom consists, I found this phrase in today's Office of Readings, in the letter of a disciple to Diognetus apt, and more than a little challenging:Christians live amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven.We often describe the next world as a state free from death, free from decay and sickness, but the positive value of changelessness is hard for us to wrap our minds around, living as we do amidst of the Cult of the New, the fetishization of the ephemeral, the worship of Change.Yet another reason why the Rock of Peter is profoundly counter-cultural.We wait in joyful hope for freedom from change.

Tuesday, 22 April 2008

CNS, (do the coins I toss in the collection basket pay for CNS?,) in one wrap-up of coverage of an reactions to Papapalooza, report the astounding news that Catholics who don't agree with Church teaching noticed that the Pope, despite being a nice guy, did nothing to bring Church teaching into line with their way of thinking.Astounding...It makes you wonder why these Catholic theology students are studying with Catholic professors, at a Catholic institution, and from a Catholic perspective.Oh, wait....

Theology students extol pope's pastoral gifts but say change unlikelyBy Chris HerlingerCatholic News ServiceNEW YORK (CNS) -- Catholic students at one of New York City's most prominent schools of theology said Pope Benedict XVI's visit did not soften some of their concerns about his papacy and the future of the U.S. Catholic Church.The students at Union Theological Seminary, a nondenominational graduate school of theology with Protestant roots and a home for Catholic academics who have run afoul of the Vatican, praised Pope Benedict's pastoral gifts and his ability to energize the Catholic faithful.But they also said the visit will not lead to what they feel are much-needed reforms within the church and expressed concern that the U.S. church's current and future needs are not likely to be addressed any time soon.

I have not yet had the opportunity to watch most of the video I taped during the papal visit, and since Himself has been as insanely busy as I the past week or so, he has some watching to catch up on as well, leaving me TV-less, so rather than commenting on the thing itself I am going to comment on the comments, or at least link to them.A side benefit of having ones own interested and passions taking center stage in the public consciousness for even a short time, is that by looking into commentary one is led to numerous fascinating new, (to me,) blogs and bloggers.And reminded that we are all individuals, and likely, however delightfully another seems to put my own sentiments into words, to disagree on as many issues as those on which we agree.(You read a post and think, foolishly, Ah, a SOUL mate! only to read the very next and mutter, What a dithering idiot/unrepentant Nazi wingnut/insipid new age lunatic/ostio-cranieite...)Anyway, a few posts and bloggers (to whom I apologize if my shallow reading has given me a wrong impression of their identities, and I have mischaracterized them.).........................From a pro-life non-Catholic

One of the most extraordinary moments during Sunday’s Mass occurred when the Holy Father encouraged the young people present to "find the courage to proclaim Christ…and the unchanging truths which have their foundation in him.""These are the truths that set us free!" he said. "They are the truths which alone can guarantee respect for the inalienable dignity and rights of each man, woman and child in our world - including the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother’s womb."With the mention of the unborn child, the until-then-silent and attentive congregation of 60,000 burst into spontaneous applause..................

http://misskelly.typepad.com/miss_kelly_/2008/04/papal-mass-at-y.html

There were a number of short chants or songs in Latin that we all sang, and they sounded great! I'm sure most people who attended this Mass had never sung these words before, and it sounded wonderful. OK, we had a papal choir and orchestra leading things, not to mention a great cantor, but also that's the beauty of these.....chants. They are musically simple, with few notes and not much difference between notes (it's not a reach going from low notes to high notes, as in some songs). That 57,000 people who've never sung together in their lives managed to sound pretty damn good singing these short pieces. Which should dispel the idea that Gregorian chants are too difficult and ordinary church-goers can't sing them. Yes, we can!! We did it at Yankee Stadium! Thank you, Pope Benedict and New York Archdiocese, for a wonderful selection of songs and chants. Listening to this Mass, you'd swear you were in a cathedral. ...Although I could barely see Pope Benedict, I feel honored and blessed to have been there today. There truly was an abundance of grace there today.........................From a middle-America newsman:http://rappvoice.com/2008/04/20/benedict/As moving and spectacular as John Paul’s visit [was]... Benedict’s pilgrimage to the United States was even more necessary, significant, and important ...Benedict came, at the age of 81, as a lesser-known quantity, [than John Paul II] a somewhat shy German scholar who had acquired a cartoonish image as “God’s Rottweiler,” the enforcer of orthodox doctrine in his previous Vatican job as Defender of the Faith.If he had come to lecture and scold America for its wayward ways, nobody would have been particularly surprised. But he came instead as a healer, with a message of hope. It was precisely the message needed in the American Catholic Church, delivered with humility, compassion and a plea for forgiveness of the church’s own sins.The Church in America has walked through the valley of the shadow of death ...since the scandal of sexual abuse .... Benedict knew that this was the boil he must lance–that the only way to deal with a great evil is to face it squarely...By honestly addressing this scandal ... Benedict practiced what the Church preaches...His healing gestures continued during his visit, as when he personally greeted victims of the September 11 tragedy at Ground Zero in Manhattan on Sunday morning and when he met with representatives of other faiths including Muslims who were offended by one of his speeches, and when he became the first Pope to attend a Jewish synagogue in America.In his reaching out to people and his evident joy at his enthusiastic reception, Benedict destroyed the caricature of him as a stern enforcer of Vatican doctrine. He came across as a shepherd keenly aware of a flock that has been distressed and wandering. He came with words of hope, perhaps the most desperately needed virtue in the Church today..........................A media analyst who thinks the press missed the boat, (I think he's talking about LD, whom I maligned below):http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2008/04/19/did-press-miss-boat-d-c-massSeveral friends and co-workers have asked me what it was like to attend the Papal Mass at Nationals Park in DC. It certainly didn’t seem reflected in many news media accounts. The standard AP template was largely secular and [one reporter] summarized that Pope Benedict focused on "decrying that the nation's promise has been left unfulfilled for some."...It was a joy to be present and inspiring to attend a mass in which your humble, wonderful parish priest is actually the Pope. He is not a charismatic television figure .... But to read the [his] works is to recognize that his thought carries a charisma all its own. [LOVE those last seven words!]....................Not exactly an obscure 'blog, but I love that Rocco had the photo and caption from the inimitable NYPost -- Come to Papa! -- in a post succinctly titled, The Triumph of B16http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2008/04/triumph-of-b16.html

Never having had any money, I never paid attention to TV economics commentators, but when did Dobbs stop being one of them and become the bat guano crazy, dumb as a sack of hammers guy I see now? He was whinging bleating about the Pope every time I saw him last week when I dialed past CNN or Fox, or wherever he has alit."Well, the Pope is at it again...." he began one time. (Yes, "one time," I saw more than one instance of his peculiar fixation on PapaRatz and Papa's failure to recognize that all Americans are saints, or at least infallible, and that all facets of our society are beyond reproach and all actions of our government perfect. Perhaps we should have built a big wall to keep Bavarians out, huh, Lou?)

Saturday, 19 April 2008

I may have to apologize for complaining, "Must there be cheeze in church, and must it be sung by me?"I'm coming to believe that there IS a place for Cheese.I may have heard wrong, (I've been insanely busy, and have about 12 hours of "Pope Tapes" yet to watch,) but i believe that that lovely polyphonic setting of the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis sung at the Ecumencial Meeting in Washington was the work of Lord Org - Sergeant With Arms, of the Suspicious Cheese Lords.

Friday, 18 April 2008

http://thrownback.blogspot.com/2008/04/papal-mass-in-washington-its-about.htmlSome excerpts from comments about yesterday’s ballpark liturgy from Fr Rob Johansen, a Michigan priest.Long, but worth reading. (I now see that it excerpting sections, I have ended up with purt dang near the entire thing. SO read it, what else ya got to do?)[The Pope] celebrated the Mass, as we've come to expect, with dignity, reverence, and obvious devotion.… Many have commentedon the poor musical choices, and how they seemed to reflect little awareness of Pope Benedict's teaching on the liturgy, or even much awareness of the Church's teaching and directives regarding liturgy and music. Fr. Richard Neuhaus, commenting during live coverage on EWTN, may have expressed the problem best when he pithily remarked "Perhaps those responsible for this are unfamiliar with Pope Benedict’s many writings on the liturgy..."… But I will make a few observations about the reactions to the Mass, and what this Papal Mass reveals about the state of Catholic culture. Firstly, I was taken aback by the sheer violence and passion of the reaction … I gathered from many of the comments … that people were shocked and surprised … I don't get the shock: the organizers of the DC Mass reveled three weeks ago that they intended to present a mish-mash, or, again in Fr. Neuhaus' inimitable words, a "liturgical stew". And that's precisely what they did. …I was also, alternately, both dismayed and amused by some of the commentors who spun wild conspiracy theories suggesting collusion of Msgr. Marini (the pope's Master of Ceremonies) or even of the Pope himself, in the nefarious agenda represented by the music of the DC Mass. Some tried to lay the blame on Marini, saying "he was the one sent over to approve the arrangements, he' s the one to blame." As though Msgr. Marini is supposed to have a a current and particular knowledge of the repertoire of American Catholic sacred music. ... I laughed out loud when I read one commenter's suggestion that henceforth, whenever the holy father celebrates Mass away from Rome, he should bring with him his own MC's, servers, and choir. Not exactly a practical solution. Sooner or later the holy father and his staff have to rely on the locals organizers to, well, organize. That reliance may be well or ill-placed, but there's really no alternative. [THANK you! The vitriol hurled at the new Marini is as nasty as that hurled at the old Marini -- with even less cause, considering that this is, IIRC, the first large scale international trip, the liturgies for which he has had any responsibility. I think I could describe almost all of the…. less than worthy musical selections in a way that would make them seem acceptable to anyone but the most All-Gregorian-Propers-All-the-Time liturgical musician. I suspect Marini II brought a certain naivety to the job -- who, not having experienced it, would expect, or even believe the depths to which the American Liturgical-Industrial Complex will sink in their flouting of all decorum, rubrics, taste and common sense?]Yes, I'm sure some will be tempted to use the DC Mass as "evidence" to perpetuate the Americanized "Spirit of Vatican II" liturgy. But really, that whole way of thinking is becoming more and more patently dated by the day. It just isn't flying anymore, because more and more people are becoming aware of what Vatican II really taught about the liturgy, and Pope Benedict's teaching in this area is having an inexorable effect. The priests ordained in the last 10 years are almost universally tradition-friendly, and that trend is only expanding. The current liturgical disorder wasn't created overnight, and it won't be undone overnight.[Note!]Furthermore, we have to recognize that, in the greater scheme of things, the music offered at the DC Mass was in many respects far better than what you'd find in a lot of American parishes. … I have been acquainted with pastors who forbid the singing of a single syllable of Latin at their parishes. [Uhm…. Really? No, REALLY? Gambling at Rick’s?]… the work of authentic liturgical renewal has just barely begun.…. Which brings me to the larger point. Archbishop Wuerl, in his greeting of the Holy Father at the beginning of the Mass, stressed the different cultures and ethnicities represented at the Mass. Fr. Neuhaus observed that the spirit of "multiculturalism" pervaded the Mass. A different EWTN commentator, after the Mass, gushed about how the Mass represented the "diversity" of the Church in America. Others waxed about how the Mass was an opportunity for the Church in America to show the Holy Father who we are. The problem:That's. Not. What. Mass. Is. About.The Mass is not an "opportunity" for me, or we, to "show" anyone anything, let alone "who we are." The Mass is not about "representing" the diversity (or anything else), of those who participate in it. The Mass is about re-presenting the eternal Sacrifice of Christ at the Last Supper and Calvary. It's about Him, not me, and not even about we.… In our pride and self-centeredness, we want to turn the liturgy around to focus on ourselves. As a priest I have encountered this in many ways. This attitude commonly rears its head in weddings. When, from time to time, I have had to say "no" to the unreasonable liturgical demands of some bride, I have heard the reply "but this is my wedding". To which my response is, "yes, it is, but it's not about you. At confirmation, graduation, and other special Masses, frequently the organizers try, in ways verging upon the silly, to concoct ways to "involve" all the confirmands or graduates, to give them all something to "do" in the liturgy, because it's "about" them.This kind of thinking was evident in the DC Mass. There was a seemingly never-ending parade of cantors, musicians, and pieces of a dizzying variety of styles and ethnic origins, all aimed at trying to "include" every possible different ethnic and racial group. This process had what Amy Welborn aptly called a "frenzied" quality. It seemed frenzied because it was so obviously labored, and so obviously detracted from experiencing the liturgy as any kind of unified whole. This "multicultural" approach failed liturgically, and it also failed in it's own putative aim: rather than celebrating unity in diversity, or some such thing, it ended up exaggerating the ethnic differences and working against the communio that the liturgy is intended to bring about.No, the problem, as I heard another priest once say, is that most Catholics "don't know anymore what the Mass is for. " And not knowing what something is for, we will tend to make it for ourselves. Part of the cause for this state of affairs is the collapse of catechesis in the 70's and 80's. I belong to the generation for whom CCD stood for "Cut, Color, and Draw." There is a whole cohort of Catholics who were never taught the rudiments of sacraments and liturgy, nor much of anything else. However, this "knowing" what the Mass is for is something that goes deeper and reaches farther than intellectual understanding. I would imagine that, if you asked the musicians and participants at that liturgy, most of them in one way or another would say that the Mass is about worshipping God. But in spite of "knowing" this in some way, most Catholics experience of liturgy in their parishes, and the experience of the DC Mass, in fact works against what we supposedly "know". In order for what we "know" to really form our lives, it must be "incarnated" in the culture in which we live. And I believe we have come perilously near a point where we cannot, in any meaningful sense, identify a coherent and unifying Catholic culture in the U.S.No doubt there are many reasons for this, but it seems to me that at bottom the foremost cause goes back to this tendency to try to re-focus the liturgy back on ourselves. For thirty years, have been trying to impose one agenda after another on the liturgy, and all of those agendas boil down to "It's all about me." We have tried to re-make the liturgy in our own image, and in doing so have enervated the culture which makes the liturgy intelligible. The Mass, of it's nature, is, as Amy Welborn said, about Something. And that Something is objective. It is what it is, and calls us to conform ourselves to it. But once we start imposing our own agendas and on it, we create confusion, and lead people to think that it's about Whatever I Want It To Be About. That leads to fragmentation, chaos, and the breakdown of culture. As soon as the liturgy is seen as about Anything, it will be perceived by some to be about Nothing.The liturgy, as Pope Benedict has written, should form our culture. But for the last thirty years the prevailing culture, and it's winds of trend and fashion, has been allowed to to de-form the liturgy. This is the lesson that our bishops and priests must learn. Once again, the evidence of this tendency was glaring in the music at yesterday's Mass. This process has both damaged the liturgical life of the Church, and weakened Catholic culture. The reversal of the process cannot begin with the prevailing culture that surrounds us - it contains much that is simply antithetical to the Faith. We must begin with the liturgy - as it is understood and lived in the continuity of the Church's Tradition. We must allow ourselves to be formed by the liturgy, so that we can be conformed to the Something that the liturgy is about. Then we will, almost without consciously trying, begin to rebuild and reform the culture of the Faith and of the world. One final note,from me... while the music, (and the sensibility that informed its selection,) was as bad as it seemed at first hearing, I have no doubt that the performances and arrangements were better, but were done no favor by the amplification and the broadcasting.

Thursday, 17 April 2008

People complained that if their posts criticized the music at the Stadium Mass, they were being deleted from the USCCB blog about the Pope's visit.I assumed that they either misunderstood, or had been offensive.I posted, and received a message that my post awaited moderation... fair enough.The complainers had simply misunderstood, comment moderation had merely been enabled.But now, i find that posts made well after mine appeared -- yet mine still "awaited moderation."Which I now see, or at least guess is an untruth. A bald-faced, bold-faced untruth.Was mine offensive?

Superb homily, speaking to both the strngths [sic, I can't type OR spell...] and weakness of the Catholic Church in America.I am so looking forward to the Holy Father’s address to educators.However, I was deeply saddened by the musical performances and entertainment that interrupted the liturgical action Holy Mass.(Save the Liturgy, Save the World)

Wednesday, 16 April 2008

I read somewhere, something to the effect that the most commonly typed words in the Catholic blogosphere are something like, "thanks to Amy Welborn."Well, all can say is.... thank you, Amy Welborn!She has a post linking to an article in the Washington Post on the Papal Mass and music and, frankly, the "liturgy wars." (My words, not hers or the author)http://amywelborn.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/music-in-the-wapo/Links to some good statements by Jeffrey Tucker, to the Parish Book of Chant, go read the whole thing....But I want to call attention to THIS nugget: key to opening ourselves to a different way of thinking on this is to start grappling with the fact that most of us think that the Mass is essentially a prayer meeting. Prayer meetings and gatherings are good, but that’s not what the Mass is. It’s something different, and exploring those differences and the assumptions we bring to Mass about what it is we’re doing there…we’re only at the very beginning of that conversation.YES!Yes, yes, yes, YES!This complete misapprehension of what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is and is not by a enormous segment of the Catholic world, (including, shamefully, far too many charged with conducting the Liturgy, either as priest of musician,) is one of the things from which the Mass, the Liturgy.... well, must be saved.And the music we use, for good or ill, both expresses and reinforces either our misunderstanding or our comprehension of What The Mass Is.And that's why what we do matters.

(Ya know, I just thought, using the internet happily presumes a great deal of trust. I don't speak a word of German, and I read only a tiny "art song vocabulary." I am just trusting that I didn't just repeat a recipe for pickled cabbage, or a dirty limerick...)

Peter Steinfels, in the NYTimes in a piece that generally says he still thinks, after all these years, that the thoughts expressed, or rather, the way they were expressed, in Ratzinger Report were "intellectually deplorable."Imagine that: an interview where the interviewee neglected to provide footnotes!

I have repeatedly found myself deeply moved, brought to a dead halt, sensed a window suddenly opening on reality and my life, sent spinning into a few moments of meditation or prayer. Even where his arguments left me partially or ultimately unconvinced, I recognized important truth in them and felt grateful for the challenge they presented.

Besides agreeing that this quote mirrors my own experience, may I suggest that for all their bluntness and failure to observe the niceties of academic rigor, the words in RR may have, as usual, done precisely what their speaker intended them to do? opened exactly the discussion he wanted opened? provoked exactly the conversation he knew they would?

Monday, 14 April 2008

Himself was dialing past, and I was working on a tax return (as I ought now...,) and a man somewhere in Latin America, who works with the poorest of the poor, the most troubled of the troubled, riskiest of the at-risk children was talking about a music program that rescues them.I had a quick glimpse of someone, (him?,) playing the violin and another of a string orchestra made up of children.The style of music was formal, foreign to the children, outside their normal experience.Why?He was explaining (to Bob Simon, maybe?) the absolute necessity of not using mundane music, not using sounds from their every day experience of life, which they would associate with something else.Why are so many in positions of power in the programming of church music unable to see this same necessity in their work?The experiences from which he wishes to separate these children are not of course, merely saecular and profane, they are often horrible (I think he used the example of pop styled music being that to which the father who beats the child may listen,) but the principle is surely the same.Do we really want the music that accompanies the foretaste of the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb to remind you of ... well, what you danced to with that cute cousin of the groom at the last wedding reception you attended?

Between Linda Schafer and Fr Weber, I'm not sure to whom I am more grateful.Excellent attendance, enough larger than expected that they had to relocate to a different building.At first I was impressed that so many people had come from all over to attend... WRONG!The reality was in its way more remarkable: the locals, members of their parish, choir, schola, presbyterate, etc. who were interested were that numerous.Some of what Fr Weber had to say I had heard before, but took better notes this time -- several descriptions he has of "process", the one of deepening intimacy between two lovers, i.e. Christ and the Church, or the Creator and the and each of us as His creature; and the other of the movement from Chaos to Order; are truly breathtaking.And his insights on the spirituality of music, (which encompasses both sound and silence,) I believe bore immediate fruit --- I think I "prayed better" and then as a result led my choir better the next morning.(Despite the fact that I, to my shame, simply and inexplicably changed key in the middle of Oremus pro Pontifice; despite my thinking I had barely enough voice to be heard, they all came right along with me -- so they ARE paying attention! but the psalm, one of my few triumphs at the parish, was wonderfully right, and prayerful, and beautiful.)And as always, chanting the Divine Office with a group, (in English, some parts recto tono, always a good, valid solution to real or perceived difficulties,) is a highlight of my prayer life.It's great, a real relief any time I get to sing nowadays without doing the heavy lifting. (I'm still draggin' my choir along, albeit not reluctantly on their part, on the sung angelus...)

Anyway, the day was rewarding, worth all the money I paid out to subs to go. (The perils of working full time as a part time worker...)I was interested to stay to Mass, because it's always (as Mary Jane notes in a post below,) a good idea for the musician to be a PIP from time to time.Although had I not, and had I relaized a little earlier that there was a time difference, I could have scampered home in time to play the anticipated Mass. I spent some time in the loft, and some in the pew.I was pleased to hear that their congregational participation is pretty good, about the same as ours (I was told that Mass is their worst for EffCap.)I was intrigued that participation is much better for the Latin Sanctus and Agnus Dei than for the Mysterium Fidei, (for obvious reasons, but I like to see that my intuition is right.) This, amongst people who are not possible old enough to have sung the former two and not the latter on a regular basis.I was very interested in something I have never seen before -- the Communion "procession" was, for once, a genuine procession, crucifer and all, from the BACK (which makes great sense on several counts, but I am not in a position to suggest such a change at our parish.)Anyway, if any of my 2.36 readers, (or is that a generous estimate?) has the chance to hear this wonderful priest, or attend anything organized by this parish, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Sunday, 13 April 2008

I love bells anyway (I attended the "christening" of a set of bells at St John Cantius, In Chicago IL, least year -- remarkable ritual, and one I double I shall ever again have the opportunity to see.)Anyway, H/T to Mary Jane at http://sacredmiscellany.typepad.com/sacredmiscellany, an interesting suggestion to ring our church bells for ten minutes, at 3:oo central time on April 15, Tuesday, (the time when his plane touches down,) to welcome the Holy Father to Americahttp://pewsitter.com/view_news_id_7761.php

Great idea!I shall ask Father permission, as I have the key to the carillon.)

We shall sing this at the choir mass today -- I am completely out of voice, a problem since several of the pieces we are doing today are essentially "voice led."(This is a curious phenomenon, and one I have not been able to figure out. My choir is a conundrum -- in three pieces of similar style, similar difficulty, similar familiarity the likelihood is very great that one they will follow my hands and head, one, only [organ] accompaniment will do the trick, and on the last, it must be my voice. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with how I taught it to them, either. It may have to do with how attentive and enthused the de facto section leaders are?)

Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum ejus.Let us pray for Benedict our Pontiff. May the Lord keep him and give him life, and make him happy on the earth, and not deliver him to his foes.

Saturday, 12 April 2008

I actually intend to, kinda... (God bless Linda Schaefer, of St Boniface in the diocese of Lafayette)But meanwhile, I came across THIS, on a film critics blog, which, yeah, give me pause:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=38&entry_id=25137Every time I go to church, which isn't often, and I'm not bragging, I always come away frustrated at the way the mass is handled these days -- with lots of acoustic guitars and folk-style singing. Sometimes I actually end up developing a feeling of hostility toward the ensemble leader, which kind of negates the whole point of going to church right there. But even when I feel in sympathy with these people, who after all are devoting hours and hours and hours of practice to these Sunday performances, I usually get the sense that they're enjoying themselves a lot more than the Congregation is.Usually the priest just stands there befuddled, as if thinking, well, if this is what people like, if this is what brings them in, fine with me. But I don't think this is what's bringing them in. I think the congregation in most cases is merely tolerating it. In some cases, it may be keeping people away.I was talking to a former Episcopal pastor yesterday, and he told me that if he were to do it all over again, he'd go entirely the other way. Bring in organ music. Incense. Choirs. Maybe choirs singing in foreign languages. Things to make people feel that they've entered another world -- a mysterious place where God dwells. Instead what you get in church these days feels 30 years out of date, a throwback to the 1970s, and completely devoid of mystery or emotional power. There's nothing visceral about it, and this is what this priest was saying: You have to make church a visceral experience -- reach them through the emotions -- and then, with the sermon, start trying to reach them through the mind.Advertising a product doesn't mean you're cynical about the product. It could mean that you believe you have something worth buying and want to figure out the smartest way to make people want it. I don't think it would hurt if churches looked into hiring theatrical consultants -- or asking for volunteers. Just get some people in who know stage craft. And get rid of the acoustic guitars and the folk music.I know. This is how critics get in trouble. I went to church and now I'm reviewing the mass .

And SCADS of comments.Very instructive (not necessarily about the Mass, but about people...)

Friday, 11 April 2008

Really, can any parish, can any musician, can any priest who truly cares about beautiful, appropriate liturgy NOT want to have this volume in the pews?The CMAA's soon-to-be-out Book of Parish Chant looks like what many parishes have been waiting for, (not, alas, mine.) http://www.musicasacra.com/pbc/